


You're Alright

by tully



Category: Turn (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, anna tries to get hewlett to rest but ends up crying a bit instead, cute things happen idk, mostly emotional fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-08
Updated: 2015-06-08
Packaged: 2018-04-03 10:15:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4097167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tully/pseuds/tully
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hewlett accompanies Anna back to Whitehall after his escape.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You're Alright

Night had properly fallen, now; the evening chill had blown in across the Sound to bluster about the seaside village of Setauket. Anna, in rather perfect health, was used to the evening breeze--she had lived with it since a child, and it cooled her cheeks, recently reddened from her brief bout of tears. Something in her threatened to burst; a sticky bout of joy clung to her ribs and climbed her throat, refusing to let her stop grinning. Hewlett was safe; her friend was safe. Worse for the wear, perhaps, but alive and warm and breathing.

They walked side by side away from the glow of the tavern, where Simcoe no doubt remained simmering in his anger and surprise. Let him stew, she thought. She resisted the urge to laugh out loud.

The major was breathing a little heavily beside her, obviously exhausted. Had he made the effort just to come see her, even when he was so unwell? She sighed quietly. How like the man, honestly.

"Here," she said, without invitation. "Take my arm. You're exhausted. You really shouldn't have left the house so soon."

Gratefully, the major transferred some of his weight onto her shoulder."I had to see you," he said quietly. "I had to know you were alright." 

"I'm fine," she insisted. "But you are not. You're finished being the gracious host of Whitehall, you hear? You need to rest."

"Nonsense," he replied, with an echo of that familiar scoffing tone of his. "You are my guest. What kind of gentleman would I be?"

Together they helped one another up the hill to the large white house in the distance. A soft glow of lit candles and a few roaring hearths lighted the structure with a golden haze, a cozy thought in the salty chill of the evening. "Please, major. Allow me to care for you for a change. You've done so much already." Briefly she saw the glint of his eyes flashing toward her wind-flushed face.

"Well, if you insist," he said, and she heard the smile in his voice. "But don't you trouble yourself, my dear."

"Never," she responded. "You could never be a trouble to me."

They walked in silence after that.

They arrived at Whitehall; Mary was there immediately to usher them in. "Now, get you to bed," she said sternly to the major, who nodded wearily and began to climb the stairs.

The accompanying soldiers who had taken the liberty of carrying up Anna's luggage thumped inside the door after them; Anna glanced at them, at the retreating Hewlett, and then at Mary, who waved her hand in the direction of the major. 

"Go," she said to Anna. "He trusts you. I'll deal with your luggage."

A brief swell of gratitude filled Anna's chest. "Thank you," she said, and hurried to help the struggling major up the next flight of stairs.

"Thank you," exhaled Hewlett when they were standing at last in front of his room. He turned to her; his arm was still in hers. "Mrs. Strong, I can prepare myself for bed, but if you could..." He looked a little bashful, unaccustomed to the idea of asking for Anna's company when he was so weak and fatigued.

Anna, however, was unfazed. "Of course. Knock on your bedside table when you're ready." She offered him a smile.

He glanced away, a soft smile on his own lips. "Thank you," he repeated quietly, then removed his arm from hers and disappeared into his room.

A few minutes later, she heard the hollow knock from inside the room, and carefully let herself in. A fire was blazing on the left--Mary had kept it burning brightly, no doubt--and a chair stood adjacent to the bed where the pale man lay propped up, struggling to maintain an alert expression.

"Oh, lie down," she said, taking the seat beside him. "You needn't be the entertainer right now. Rest."

He sighed slightly. "Oh, alright," he said, sliding himself further beneath the blankets. She helped him, straightening them, tucking them around his chin.

"Now sleep," she said firmly. "And I'll be here when you wake up." 

He grimaced, as though the idea tasted bitter. "Mrs. Strong, I would love nothing more, but you too need rest. Please don't lose any more over me."

"Hush," she said. "I'll keep myself occupied. I have enough nervous energy pent up to get me through the night." She grinned.

Outside, the wind blustered past the windows and made the flames tremble in their hearth. He lay looking at her sleepily from one side, the same soft smile tugging at his lips. Then the blankets shifted slightly, and his hand found hers and squeezed. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.

She shook her head. "Don't be silly. If anything, I should have done a better job coming to your aid than I did. It is I who owe you an apology."

"You're sweet," he responded quietly. "But not for any modicum of time were you responsible for what happened to me. And don't you dare think otherwise."

Anna pressed her lips together, intwining their fingers, looking at the floor. "But I just sat there and let them take you--"

"Hush. They had their guns pointing directly at you. There was nothing you could have done."

She looked at him and he saw there were tears in her eyes. His smile grew a little and brushed her knuckles with his thumb. "Anna. I do not blame you."

She sniffled, leaning from her chair so that her face was nestled beside his chest. With his free hand he stroked her hair as a few pent-up tears leaked past her eyelids and stained the blanket beside him. They stayed like that for a while, content to hear the sound of each other's breath. 

After a while she sat up, wiping at her face with her other hand. "Thank you. I'm alright now." 

"Yes, my dear. You are."

She looked at him, his eyelids heavy with exhaustion, face pale and a little haggard, but his mouth still quirked up in that little smile, at her, for her. "Sleep now, Edmund."

He pressed his lips lightly to the hand in his. "I will."

And while he succumbed to the creeping darkness beneath his eyelids, she sat, both of her hands holding his, watching his quiet face and waiting for the sunrise.

**Author's Note:**

> ehhh not all that enchanted with how this turned out but I needed a little anna/hewlett fluff bc these two are too cute for words


End file.
